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Pixar: A Study in StoryTelling vs. Terminator: A Study in Special Effects
On Worship, Story Development, and Special Effects. This evening we took our family to see UP, Pixar's latest, and some say greatest, film so far. Pixar has enjoyed so much success not because of great animation but great stories. The stories tap into such profound plots and do so in such multivalent, multi-leveled ways. Last week I saw Terminator: Salvation. Despite it's storied beginning, the Terminator series laid an egg with this one. The impossible to follow story literally duct-tapes itself together with beyond spectacular special effects.
I find that to be the case with worship. We often rely more on special effects than on story development. Think about it-- lights, cameras, fog, newest songs, fast moving imagery on 17 screens, 18 effects pedals at the lead guitar's toe tips, and did i mention lights?? In fact, today's worship leader increasingly describes his or her task as "leading people through a seamless experiential encounter with the presence of God." Hmmmm.
How about this past Sunday? Did your worship service give any attention to developing the story of Pentecost-- the birthday of the Church-- the universal celebration of the sending of the Holy Spirit? Or was it just another week of lights, screens and sentimental songs?
I noted a feature in the movie credits today I'd never seen before. Pretty quickly after the credits began scrolling I saw the title of "Story Development Supervisor," followed by a host of titles and names underneath. Soon after came "Story Development Manager" with another team of laborers. Still yet came "Story Development Coordinator," and another team. Not only did these positions and work teams come prior to all the animators and special effects teams, they they seemed to outnumber them as well. Could this be Pixar's secret? Attention to Story Development?
What if we started approaching the worship life of the church in this fashion? Story Development. What if the worship leader became a kind of chief story development officer? How might that work? What could it look like?
Labels: story
posted by John David Walt | at 5/31/2009 10:50:00 PM | 12 comments
Friday, May 22, 2009
God Flies: Part 2. Absurd: wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate....
What difference does "The Ascension" make. I keep thinking about it. Noone ever really talks about it? My hunch is that it will not be mentioned at your Church this Sunday and yet you probably heard a lot about the resurrection 40 days ago on Easter Sunday. Why not?
Does it go too far for us? Human beings "flying"??? It's absurder. We will readily talk about Jesus being born of a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit. (absurd) We will wax eloquent about unbelievable miracles like walking on water. (absurd) We have no problem staking our very life and faith on Jesus actually rising from the dead, as in "rigor mortis." (absurd) We will readily talk about him walking through walls and suddenly appearing out of nowhere. (absurd) So why don't we talk about him flying up to Heaven? Is it beyond absurd? as in "absurder!"
I would suspect, in the eyes of a child, this would be the most amazing thing of all-- a person lifting-off and flying! I mean, what kid doesn't want to fly?
I would suspect, in the eyes of a child, this would be the most amazing thing of all-- a person lifting-off and flying! I mean, what kid doesn't want to fly?
But us adults-- we don't make much of it do we? It's absolutely absurd!
Most popular tourist site in Washington DC? US Capitol?? no. National Air & Space Museum. yes. Why-- Human beings are more enthralled, amazed and taken away by the idea of flying, than any other phenomenon.
Could it be that the force of "gravity" exceeds the force of "faith?" It's true isn't it, "What goes up. . . . . . . must come down." But what if it's just the opposite? "What comes down. . . . . . . must go up."
I call it the gravity of Heaven. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up." Heaven's gravity is the supernatural force pulling humility up into true humanity. There are a million implications. One of them: one day we will have the capacity to fly. It's Absurd!
Think about that a bit and give me your thoughts.
Note: this isn't headed toward 19th century Rapture theology-- I promise. ;-)
posted by John David Walt | at 5/22/2009 09:27:00 PM
| 6 comments
Could it be that the force of "gravity" exceeds the force of "faith?" It's true isn't it, "What goes up. . . . . . . must come down." But what if it's just the opposite? "What comes down. . . . . . . must go up."
I call it the gravity of Heaven. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up." Heaven's gravity is the supernatural force pulling humility up into true humanity. There are a million implications. One of them: one day we will have the capacity to fly. It's Absurd!
Think about that a bit and give me your thoughts.
Note: this isn't headed toward 19th century Rapture theology-- I promise. ;-)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
God Flies! part 1
With Ascension Day coming tomorrow (Thursday 5.21) I've been thinking a lot about the Ascension. Here's my question: What difference does it make? In my own experience people don't talk too much about it. Yet I've heard theologian types claim it is the most central reality in the life of Christ. So why does it matter? There are other ways Jesus could have gotten to the right hand of God. He could have simply said "Beam me up," or something like that. He could have disappeared in the night when noone was looking. So why does this little account in Acts 1:1-11 matter? This must have huge implications for the practice of Christian worship.
I've got so many thoughts about it, but before going into those, I'd like to hear what you think. I promise not to critique responses.
Labels: story
posted by John David Walt | at 5/20/2009 01:19:00 PM | 7 comments
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Worship Quote of the Week: Marinating in the Story
I recently watched, Painting with Words, a short documentary on the celebrated historian and pulitzer prize winning author, David McCullough. When he writes the stories of famous historical figures (i.e. Andrew Jackson) you get the strong sense he actually knew them. The documentary explores his writing process. He said the first thing he does is to marinate his mind in the life of the person he's writing about through immersive reading. Interesting choice of words. Now consider this exhortation from Robert Weber along the same lines with respect to our work.
As pastors of the Word, there is a strong need to soak ourselves in the Triune story of God with its detailed exposition of the central role of Christ in the greatest drama of human history—the drama of God who becomes one of us to rescue the world. This theme of God's rescue of us all—not inspirational topics, motivational speakers, or massive therapy sermons—needs to be recovered as the central message of our church. Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God's Narrative. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008), 121.
I'd be interested to hear how you all go about this kind of marinating or soaking in the Story.
posted by John David Walt | at 3/19/2009 03:01:00 AM
| 8 comments
Friday, March 13, 2009
Ordering Worship: Part 3 I want to continue this conversation about worship and order. Questions abound on this issue. Why does worship need an order? Why not just open ended spontaneity? Doesn't order constrict the freedom of the Spirit? Isn't this just tradition? Where is it in the Bible? An Order of Worship is for more high formal liturgical churches isn't it; for people who have bulletins?
The bottom line: We all operate in worship out of some kind of order. Call it what you will, written down or not, pre-planned or off-the-cuff, over time some consistent pattern will emerge.
We've been talking about the four basic movements of worship: God gathers a people to himself. He speaks his Word to them. They respond in covenant obedience or disobedience. (most often in a covenant meal or ceremony) God sends them out into kingdom work or exile. The four movements of this order come from the storied way God works with people. Take a look at this chart. (click on it to enlarge)
Labels: order of worship, story
posted by John David Walt | at 3/13/2009 10:40:00 PM | 1 comments
Friday, January 23, 2009
Presidential Inauguration as Worship?
All of the elements were in place for a bona-fide worship service. Take a look at the order:
The gathering, (2 million strong pressed into the Temple Courts)
Prelude (Military Band)
Processional (distinguished guests)
Entry of the President Elect (all standing)
Call to Worship (Senator Feinstein)
The Invocation with the Lord's Prayer. Pastor Rick Warren. (we'll get to that in the next conversation)
The Anthem. My Country Tis of Thee, sung by Aretha Franklin (renowned witness)
Declaration of Intentions and Vows (in God's name- hand on Bible-administered by high priest --aka supreme court judges)
Special Music, (Anthem featuring historic Shaker Tune)
The Proclamation with Scripture (1 Cor 13) President Barak Obama
The Response of the people (raucous cheers, banner waving, tears, prayers, pledging allegience etc.)
Benediction (Rev. Joseph Lowry)
The Amen (Thrice repeated by all the people)
Recessional
Postlude
Presidential Potluck ;-)
A few questions: (first what am I missing?)
1. Who was the god and how do you assess that?
2. If it was a particular god, what does the separation of church and state mean?
3. What faith was lifted up and celebrated?
4. What story or stories were being remembered in the service? Which was primary or most prominent?
5. What are the implications of these fascinating dynamics?
Resist the temptation to engage in soap-box ranting or raving here, try to engage in careful and thoughtful analysis. Pretend you are an anthropologist who discovered the DVD recording of this service 1,000 years later. How would you analyze what was happening on this day?
Labels: many faces of worship, story
posted by John David Walt | at 1/23/2009 03:01:00 AM | 6 comments
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Worship and the Tournament of Stories. Part 1
How do we make sure we are living out God's Story in the World and not just our own stories in God's name? Our worship will make all of the difference. The big distinction: Which story are we remembering in worship? Is our own story or our faith community's story the primary narrative? If so, we will read Scripture in a way that serves those stories. We will pull things out of Scripture and drop them into our story in a way that serves biblical notions of holiness or Christian behavior or good marriage or building campaigns or financial giving (stewardship) or financial gaining (prosperity), to name a few.
OR is the epically cosmic and personally intimate story of Father, Son and Holy Spirit the big consuming story that has our attention. If so, we will read Scripture in a way that draws us, our lives, our families, our communities, and all our needs and problems into the story of Creation and Fall, Israel and Jesus, the Church and the Final Consummation. This way of reading and worshipping trains us to see the vision of God's Kingdom and to live as though it were a present reality. (i.e. to walk by faith.)
The outcomes of these two ways are vastly different. The former will lead to getting some good things done in a pragmatic, biblical and often Christian way. Downside: we stay in control. The latter will lead to an impractical abandonment of our lives in love to God for the World. Downside: we lose control.
Consider this quote below. Part two will follow soon.
The story of God is still being written. Our present is given meaning by the past work of God, and God's future casts its beacon backward so as to remind us how our present life and witness have consequences into eternity. On the other hand, this perspective presses the importance of the church's coherence with the biblical drama, its mandate to continue this particular narrative and in particular ways. It is, after all, the story of God, not our story. With so many chapters having already been written, and with the final chapter already firmly in place, the options for intervening material are limited, if we are to continue this story. Accordingly, our task is to align ourselves with these landmarks on the biblical terrain--or, better, to write ourselves, to inscribe ourselves, into the biblical narrative, so that our sense of past, present, and future is congruous with the story of the universe found in Scripture. Christian faith is lived at the confluence of personal, ecclesial, and blblical narrative. Joel Green, The (Re-)Turn to Narrative from Narrative Reading, Narrative Preaching, citing Gabriel Fackre, 'Narrative Theology from an Evangelical Perspective," in Yandell, Faith and Narrative, p.188-201.AND DON'T FORGET. . . New items daily on the YARDSALE. posted by John David Walt | at 1/22/2009 03:01:00 AM | 7 comments
Monday, January 19, 2009
Worship and our Lost Story
It happened again this week. No matter where I go to speak in the context of a worship service I get an email like this.
J.D., we need to know your themes so we can get that to the band so they can choose songs for the worship sets. Are you looking for something soft and intimate or loud and celebrative? (i.e. the youth pastor version of this question: do you want them up or down?) "What kind of response are you looking for? Any particular response songs come to mind?
I experience it almost universally in worship services I attend, and to be sure, I have done it plenty of times myself. I can often tell what kind of "key word" search the worship leader utilized to select the songs. Pastor to Worship Leader: "I'm preaching on the holiness of God this week. I need some good songs." Worship set: 'Holy Holy Holy,' 'Holy is the Lord,' 'God of Wonders,' and (choose your favorite song that uses the word 'holy.') I'm still waiting on this one. Youth Pastor to Worship Leader: I'm preaching on the perils of masturbation this week. I need some good songs." Worship Leader to Pastor: "uuuuuhhhhhhh." Worship set: 'Give us clean hands,' .................... 'Oops! I did it again!' .........
What if we moved away from this sermon-centric model of worship? What if we agreed that worship can be tied to no other agenda; no matter how relevant-- not our sermon series, not the altar call, not the stewardship campaign, not the 'idol gives back' routine, not the Super Bowl for crying out loud. What if the musical portion of our worship ceased to be a 'platform' for the speaking portion? What if we ceased forcing our worship services to motivate, or worse, shame our people into applying our three points to their already over-applied lives?
What if our worship, week after week after week, became a moving story (more like '24' or 'Lost' which inspire a religious-like following). What if our worship, including the sermon, (which is an act of worship) became "Story-centric," cohering around the mighty acts of God and particularly around the pre-existence, conception, birth, life, death, resurrection, appearances, ascension and reign of Jesus Christ; and all of this constantly bathed in the Spirit empowered reality of Pentecost? What if 'going to church' re-oriented us to (situated us inside of) the real story going on in the Universe, reminding us of who we are and why we're here?
What if we poured all our creativity into that kind of worship design and leadership? What might happen?
Labels: story, What if worship
posted by John David Walt | at 1/19/2009 05:33:00 PM | 18 comments
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Worship and the Practice of Seeing
Epiphany is about seeing. Jesus echoes Isaiah when, in the midst of his parable teachings, he says:
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.' 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Think about it. In order to "see" and not just look, one must have "eyes to see." The best worship design and leadership trains our sight (often without our knowing it), shows us where to look, and what to look for, but only the Spirit can make us see.
So what's the secret to "seeing?" I think it begins with the humble disposition to recognize I have not seen it all yet. Somehow, the pride of my familiarity must be broken. I must learn to read anew. Just when we think we have extracted all the "relevant" applications out of the text, we must remember that reading Scripture is less about getting something out of it, and more about getting ourselves into it. I am looking for worship design and leadership that opens doors into vast chambers of revelation, orienting me with the kind of World God is making, where mountains bow down and oceans roar and the trees of the field clap their hands in joy. This kind of worship begins with an epiphany, wherein we behold the manifestation of Jesus Christ. There's so much to say here-- but people don't read long blog posts. ;-) Let me give a favorite pastor and a profound poet the last words on this entry.
There is hardly a detail in the gospel story that was not at the time (and still) overlooked because unlikely, dismissed because commonplace, and rejected because illegal. But under the surface of conventionality and behind the scenes of probability, each was effectively inaugurating the kingdom: illegitimate (as was supposed) conception, barnyard birth, Nazareth silence, Galilean secularity, Sabbath healings, Gethsemane prayers, criminal death, baptismal water, eucharistic bread and wine. Subversion. Eugene H. Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989) p.33.
Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush aflame with God,
but only he who sees takes off his shoes.
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
To design and lead this kind of worship, we must recover the humility to see and the faith to take off our own shoes. . . .
Labels: epiphany, practicing the story, story, worship
posted by John David Walt | at 1/08/2009 10:20:00 AM | 1 comments
Monday, July 21, 2008
Switching the Scriptural paradigm in Worship
Extract: to remove or take out, esp. by effort or force.
Immerse: to dip or submerge in a liquid.
EXTRACTION
Consider Veggie Tales. Sometimes the episodes are titled with captions like Who is my neighbor? Or King George and the Ducky. Other episodes pick up story lines such as Josh and the Big Wall and the Toy that Saved Christmas. Either way, the aim seems to be the development of a theme from which a relevant principle is extracted and urged for application in the child’s life. (Perhaps the child will write this principle in the inside cover of their Bible negating their need to read the story any more.) While the writers strive for faithfulness to the biblical text, a lot gets lost in the translation. For instance, the story of Shadrach, Mesach and Abednigo becomes Rack, Shack and Benny. They work in a chocolate factory mercilessly operated by Mr. Nezzar (presumably playing the part of Nebudchanezzar). Instead of the three being required to worship a large idol, it’s a gargantuan chocolate bunny. Each episode ends with the narrators, Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato visiting Qwerty, the computer, who tells all the children what the story really means for them. Qwerty sings,
On the whole, the goal is to bring the bible truth ala story into the imaginative world of a child.
Consider Veggie Tales. Sometimes the episodes are titled with captions like Who is my neighbor? Or King George and the Ducky. Other episodes pick up story lines such as Josh and the Big Wall and the Toy that Saved Christmas. Either way, the aim seems to be the development of a theme from which a relevant principle is extracted and urged for application in the child’s life. (Perhaps the child will write this principle in the inside cover of their Bible negating their need to read the story any more.) While the writers strive for faithfulness to the biblical text, a lot gets lost in the translation. For instance, the story of Shadrach, Mesach and Abednigo becomes Rack, Shack and Benny. They work in a chocolate factory mercilessly operated by Mr. Nezzar (presumably playing the part of Nebudchanezzar). Instead of the three being required to worship a large idol, it’s a gargantuan chocolate bunny. Each episode ends with the narrators, Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato visiting Qwerty, the computer, who tells all the children what the story really means for them. Qwerty sings,
“Let’s see how what we have learned applies to our lives today. God has a lot to say in his book. . . . ."
On the whole, the goal is to bring the bible truth ala story into the imaginative world of a child.
IMMERSION:
But why not bring the child into the imaginative world of the bible? Herein lies the agenda of the Hanna Barbera series. Each episode begins on location at an archaeological dig site in modern day Israel. The narrator then rehearses this story:
From here, each episode finds the three junior archaeologists journeying alongside the characters of a particular Bible story. Transported into the world of the bible story, the kids observe the story unfold while inquiring and interacting with its characters. The animated, ancient story comes alive with the glory of God. As the story is sown like seed into the memory of children, their little minds and hearts go to work, germinating imaginative possibilities , both ordinary and supernatural, of the creative love and power of God. (The Hanna Barbara series has its weaknesses, though according to some commentators, though it is beyond the relevance of this use of the series.)
But why not bring the child into the imaginative world of the bible? Herein lies the agenda of the Hanna Barbera series. Each episode begins on location at an archaeological dig site in modern day Israel. The narrator then rehearses this story:
While surveying the site of some ancient ruins two young archaeologists, Derek and Margo, and their nomad friend Mokey find themselves trapped and falling in a whirling pool of sinking sand. When the dust settles they stare up in awe at a vast chamber filled with giant relics and artifacts from another civilization; and there at the far end of the cavern a door with a strange inscription: All who enter these portals pass through time.
From here, each episode finds the three junior archaeologists journeying alongside the characters of a particular Bible story. Transported into the world of the bible story, the kids observe the story unfold while inquiring and interacting with its characters. The animated, ancient story comes alive with the glory of God. As the story is sown like seed into the memory of children, their little minds and hearts go to work, germinating imaginative possibilities , both ordinary and supernatural, of the creative love and power of God. (The Hanna Barbara series has its weaknesses, though according to some commentators, though it is beyond the relevance of this use of the series.)
QUESTION: So how is it that worship design has traded in story immersion for theme extraction? And how do we get back?
Labels: practicing the story, story, worship
posted by John David Walt | at 7/21/2008 06:07:00 AM | 4 comments
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Worship and World-Making
I will always remember our family vacation to Disney World when I was a child. Entering the park literally immerses one into a magical kingdom, a completely new and totalizing reality. Old has gone, albeit temporarily. New has come. I remember most everything about the trip.On one of the hotter afternoons I remember our family escaping into an air conditioned theatre for some respite. I had never been in a theatre like this. It was completely round and there were no seats. Curtains covered all the walls. The lights dimmed, the curtains raised and screens illumined all the way around us. I can’t recall the images that were on the screen that day, but I can’t forget the way it impacted me. To look in any direction was to see a different horizon of the film. It was like we had been dropped in the center of the world of the movie and every inch of the circumference was a different angle on the story. I was in a movie that was depicting the world as it really was in the seamlessness of its horizons. Regular movies now seemed flat in comparison.
In retrospect, the 360 degree theatre was a microcosm of the larger experience we were having as a family at Disney World. Everywhere we turned was another imaginative facet of this world.
In a sense, this is what going to church (gathering for worship) should be like. (not Disney World-- but entry into the World of God's Story) This is how worship narrates us into the Christian story. The best worship practices orient us to the center (i.e. Father, Son, Holy Spirit) in such ways that bring the circumference of the Story into panoramic vision. (Think about how stained glass storytelling works)
Why is Story-Centric worship so important? Consider this word from Robert Jensen in his essay entitled, "How the World Lost its Story."
Why is Story-Centric worship so important? Consider this word from Robert Jensen in his essay entitled, "How the World Lost its Story."
"Throughout modernity, the church has presumed that its mission was directed to persons who already understood themselves as inhabitants of a narratable world. . . . . In effect, the church could say to her hearers: 'You know that story that you think you must be living out in the real world? We are here to tell you about its turning point and outcome.'Do you connect with this idea? How does worship do this? (i.e. shape an inhabitable, narratable world). If worship is not doing this, then what is it doing?
But this is precisely what the postmodern church cannot presume. What then? The obvious answer is that if the church does not find her hearers antecedently inhabiting a narratable world, then the church must herself be that world."
Labels: quotes, story, worship
posted by John David Walt | at 7/02/2008 09:00:00 PM | 3 comments
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
worship quote of the week
“Do not suppose that this is the kind of drama one can view from a grandstand seat. We are not to be spectators of something that happened once upon a time. The Bible is not a book of ancient history. It is more like the commedia dell’arte, a dramatic form which flourished in sixteenth-century Italy. In this kind of drama, the players were asked to improvise, to put themselves into the story. To be sure, it was not a free improvisation, for there were some given elements: there was the director, there was a company of actors, and there was a story plot which was given to them in broad outline. With these given elements they were told to improvise—that is, to fill in the gaps on their own.
We too, are “called upon to improvise—that is, to put ourselves into the story and to fill in the gaps with our own experience. We must be ready to get onto the biblical stage and participate personally—along with the ‘company,’ the community of faith—in the dramatic movement of the plot, act by act.
Bernhard W. Anderson, The Unfolding Drama of the Bible, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988. pp.16-17.)
When the Story is immersively remembered and reenacted in the sanctuary, imaginative improvisation readily unfolds in the streets. In this way worship makes a constant connection, bridging between memory and mission.
So what implications does this have for worship design and leadership?
Labels: quotes, story, worship
posted by John David Walt | at 7/01/2008 08:59:00 PM | 4 comments
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Best Worship Orients us inside Scripture's Story
In order to be faithful to the biblical story in our corporate worship life, I find it helpful to take more of a Google Earth approach. There's nothing like surfing the globe and seeing the whole North American continent and then zooming down, down, down onto my good old home town of Dumas, Arkansas.
Much of the worship, not to mention the discipleship and Bible study I've experienced has tended to take more of a "pixel" approach, beginning with a verse of Scripture or a particular story or chapter or book. It's a quite pragmatic approach and somewhat easy to extract some helpful meaning or relevant application and then build a nice theme around it. However, when you start on the ground with a tiny pixel it's hard to have a good sense of where you are. The problem with this approach is it tends to situate the biblical text inside of some other story-- like the story of Western progress and prosperity, or the story of self actualization. In other words, it's quite easy to trade in the big story for the pressing needs of some other story, most notably our own, or our church's. The best worship reorients us week after week after week inside of the big true Story of the Triune God and the World.
But before we get to actual worship design and how this works, we must become students of the Story. The Story itself must become the OSX (operating system) of our mind. We must learn to think in its frameworks and categories, dream in its imagery, pray in its metaphor, and speak in its linguistic codes (not to be confused with "Christian-ese")
This is one of the things I like about Goheen and Bartholomew's book, "The Drama of Scripture: Finding our Place in the Biblical Story." Borrowing from N.T. Wright's idea of the biblical story as a five act play, the book improvises and enhances the approach. Here is the table of contents for the book.
Prologue: The Bible as a Grand Story
Act 2 Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall
Act 3 The King Chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated
Scene 1 A People for the King
Scene 2 A Land for His People
Interlude A Kingdom Story Waiting for an Ending: The Intertestamental Period
Act 4 The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished
Act 5 Spreading the News of the King: The Mission of the Church
Scene 1 From Jerusalem to Rome
Scene 2 And into All the World
Act 6 The Return of the King: Redemption Completed
Labels: story
posted by John David Walt | at 6/24/2008 08:47:00 PM | 4 comments
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Learning the Story of Scripture
As you may have picked up, three primary ideas capture my theology of Christian Worship: Story, Trinity, and World. People regularly ask me about helpful resources to further study these ideas. When it comes to the Story, the obvious resource is the Bible. However, when we have been reading the Bible a certain way for so long, it is hard to see it from any other perspective. For example, much of our discipleship has taught us to read Scripture from what I call an "extraction" paradigm. In other words, we go into the Bible to find something relevant to extract for our own life situation or need. I'm not calling that a wrong way of reading; though I would challenge us to develop a larger framework. I advocate for what I call an "immersion" paradigm. How can we read the Bible as Story and further, how do we read it such that we orient ourselves inside of the Story or immersed in it. More on that to come here.
In addition to whatever way we primarily read the Bible, we must learn to read it as a Story. Certainly many people are thinking and writing and speaking about this. I want to recommend a particular book I have found helpful in this regard. "The Drama of Scripture: Finding our Place in the Biblical Story," by Bartholomew and Goheen. I'll try and offer a representative quote or two and perhaps the Table of Contents later this week to give you more of a feel for the book.
Labels: story
posted by John David Walt | at 6/22/2008 09:17:00 PM | 4 comments
Today...